


My Big Gay Disney Courtship

by SnarkyLlama



Series: Disney Princess 'Verse [1]
Category: NSYNC
Genre: Families of Choice, Family, Make the Yuletide Gay, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-18
Updated: 2011-03-18
Packaged: 2017-10-17 02:32:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/171991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnarkyLlama/pseuds/SnarkyLlama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>JC would like to be part of Joey's family, and the Fatones have a plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Big Gay Disney Courtship

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ariadnem](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=ariadnem).



JC did not usually mistake music for a hangover.

Later, he would point this out. "See?" he'd say. "Something remarkable began that day, and that was the first sign."

Then he'd smile and explain--with an extended metaphor about cowbirds and the parasitic nature of foreshadowing--that he didn't believe in omens, but they could be a useful tool for storytellers and songwriters. And his listeners would quickly lose interest.

But at the time, the only noteworthy thing about that morning was that he spent ten minutes cursing Russia and Lance's abnormal tolerance for vodka before he realized that he didn't actually feel like crap. The pounding in his head was only a song.

That's when it got truly aggravating. It looped through his brain on endless repeat, and he knew what it was. It was... it was... something old and familiar, and fuck, he should know it. It nagged at him while he stretched. It distracted him until he tripped over his open suitcase and then chortled in the back of his mind while he hobbled into the bathroom.

_Something something something like the sweet smell of the fire._

What the hell was that?

He tried to shake it out of his head as he showered. He moved to it, just a roll of his hips at first, and then more. Once his body knew the rhythm, the melody fell into place and he laughed because he'd had it wrong.

_Your kisses lift me higher like the sweet song of the choir._

Joey would be so disappointed in him. JC Chasez: first to be eliminated in the Naked Celebrity Singing Bee 'cause he couldn't even get the King right.

No, actually... Given how much Joey liked singing _there's a bathroom on the right_ , he'd love JC's "Hunk of Burning Love."

And now that he was in the shower and thinking of Joey...

He traced a path down his belly... Mmm...

But maybe he shouldn't.

He played, just light touches along his treasure trail, while he considered it. He didn't have a hard-and-fast rule about jerking off to thoughts of his former bandmates, but he did have an ever-expanding set of guidelines.

First, stroke fantasies about Justin were out of the question. Self-love was supposed to be a celebration of self, and jerking off to the same fantasy that half the world was using was just a little too hive mind to work for him. It was enough to turn him right off because, let's face it, Seven of Nine hadn't made the Borg that sexy. Their ships were still horrible and boxy, and they had really bad skin.

Second, he shouldn't fantasize about Lance unless he was willing to be interrupted. Lance had an uncanny knack for phoning--or just showing up--right in the middle of things. JC hadn't always minded. Listening to Lance helped move things along nicely, but the more it had happened, the closer it all edged towards creepiness. He wouldn't be entirely surprised if Lance came out as a Borg Queen. At least the queens were hot. They understood the importance of moisturizer.

Third, he couldn't fantasize about Chris unless he had time to call him afterwards and tell him about it. It was fun when Chris pretended to be disgusted and offended, and the phone sex afterwards was even better.

Last, but never least, was Joey. JC had to be careful about Joey. He wasn't just sexy, he was big and warm and full of love. In short, Joey was a temptation, and JC rationed his fantasies about him.

He held back and let it hurt, because it wasn't the unbearable pain of wanting something he couldn't have. It was the cool burn of anticipation mixed with self-restraint. It was the way you let a gift sit under the Christmas tree because you knew it would be better on Christmas morning, but that didn't mean you didn't keep thinking about what that elaborate bow was keeping you from, and it didn't mean that you never crept down the stairs late at night to press your ear to the glossy paper and carefully shake the package.

And wow did that kill the mood. Who knew when he'd be able to touch himself again without thinking about Santa and "jiggling the package"?

Ho, ho, no.

He rinsed off quickly, then grabbed a towel and ran through a mental inventory of his wardrobe. The day should be a tribute to Elvis. His blue sparkly-collared jacket would be perfect. It was just Elvis In Vegas enough to avoid being Elvis Impersonators' Convention In Vegas, but he'd never felt the same about it after that incident with Britney and the nacho cheese.

There was that white button-down that he usually thought was too the Girl Who Has Everything Video. It could be interpreted as stylishly retro and a touch Young Elvis, right?

Yes.

Awesome.

But he didn't have a pair of blue suede shoes, and that was a terrible oversight on his part. What could he--oh! If Elvis had lived in the age of Velcro, he would've had a pair of sneakers like JC's pretty new red ones. He didn't have anything pressing scheduled today, so he could totally go shopping and see if they came in blue as well.

Once he was dressed, he bounced down to the kitchen to a back-beat of "hunka hunkas."

"Oh," he said when he got there.

"Hi!"

A tiny blonde wearing nothing but one of Tyler's T-shirts waved at him before snagging a waffle from the toaster.

"Ow! Fuck!"

She dropped it on a plate and then sucked on her singed fingers.

"Hey," JC said.

She smiled around her fingers and turned to the plate cupboard. His stomach flip-flopped as she pulled out another plate with her slick fingers.

She plunked the plate down, plucked the second waffle from the toaster, and dropped it on the new plate.

"Eggo?" she said, offering it to him.

"Umm..."

Did he want to eat Waffles _a la_ Some Stranger's Spit? In his beautiful gourmet kitchen? Was she crazy?

"No, thanks, I've gotta book. Got a... breakfast meeting. Bye!"

#

 

In one of his favorite boutiques, JC found the most amazing shoes. They were fresh from Italy, from Manolo Blahnik's new men's line, and he'd never seen anything like them. [They were blue suede, open-toed, sling-back oxfords.](http://llamabitchyo.livejournal.com/690607.html) They were marvelous. They were... Memphis Elvis Meets Beach-Movie Elvis And They Go Dancing!

He couldn't wait to wear them. But first, he needed food. He hadn't stopped for breakfast.

Aside from the cootie thing, he wasn't picky. A sandwich would do, and luckily for him, there was a Togo's right there. Perfect.

He was in line for all of ten seconds before there was a girly screech of "JC!"

God, he hadn't missed that at all. He set his face into something pleasantly neutral, turned, and a small body crashed into his legs and clung tightly. He jerked back and then froze.

When did their fan girls start coming in mini mode?

A familiar laugh washed over him, and he automatically put his hand out to ruffle Briahna's hair as he scanned the restaurant for Joey. And there he was, all gorgeous and smiling with his eyes all scrunched up and twinkling. And he was so obviously not about to come to JC's rescue. Not that he needed rescuing from Bri.

He looked down.

"Hey, honey, I didn't know you were here."

She released his legs and bounced a little.

"Come eat with us!"

"Nothing I want more, babe. I just gotta--"

She tugged on his arm.

"Come eat with us now!"

He was hungry, he needed to order, and Joey was still laughing at him. He shot a nasty look at Joey and then noticed his sandwich. It was huge--and one half was still untouched. He let Briahna drag him to their table.

When they got there, Joey leapt up and engulfed him in a hug.

"Geez, Joey. Have you gotten taller?"

Joey stepped back, but his hands lingered over JC's lower back and down past his hips.

Mmm, yeah.

On second thought, though...

"Um, Joey. Public groping?"

"Just checking you for tuna prints. B's known for leaving them."

Briahna held her hands up over her head and wiggled her fingers.

"They're clean!"

"Hmm," Joey said. "We'll see."

He caught one of Bri's hands and pressed a loud kiss against her palm.

"Mwah!"

Briahna giggled, and JC shook his head. Joey was too damn cute sometimes.

"I don't know, B. I think there's enough tuna here to feed a starving child or two."

JC borrowed a chair from the next table, sat down, and helped himself to Joey's sandwich. It was turkey, lettuce and tomato.

"Hey!"

JC took another bite.

"It's a good thing I like you." Joey cuffed him upside the head before handing Bri a napkin.

JC smiled.

"My mother always said there's no accounting for taste."

Kelly and Briahna were in town for a quick visit while Joey was busy with the _Singing Bee_. Bri picked at her sandwich and happily chattered about the flight and what they'd been doing, while Joey and JC ate.

"And we went to Disneyland," Briahna said.

"Yesterday," Joey added.

"Cool. Is that where you got your shirt? It's a great shirt."

She was wearing a _Lion King_ T-shirt.

"I wanted a Princess shirt."

"B..."

"They've got them with all the princesses on them and they're really pretty."

"B..."

"That's what I wanted."

"But Simba's great," JC said. "He's the color of your hair, and it's a good look for you."

Briahna looked at him like she was trying to decide if he was being patronizing or just plain stupid.

"I mean... Simba's cool, right? _Hakuna Matata_? Going around practicing his roar? That's pretty fun. And he gets to be king, too. Who doesn't want that?"

Bri was still frowning at him.

"And his dad... um... Mufasa?"

Bri nodded slowly. JC put his elbows on the table and leaned forward.

"Doesn't your dad look like Mufasa?" he whispered.

Bri stared at JC, and then peeked over at Joey.

"He's got the mane and everything," JC said.

Joey made a face at them, and Bri giggled.

"So Simba's good, right?"

Bri shook her head.

"Daddy looks more like Scar."

"Hey!" Joey scooped her out of her chair and tickled her.

JC could hear shades of Joey's falsetto in her shrieks. He thought that was pretty amazing, too.

#

 

After Briahna had calmed down, Joey bought another sandwich and a soda for JC. Then he tried to explain Briahna's Big T-shirt Issue. He didn't do a very good job of it.

"So anyway," he said in summary, "Kelly thinks the Princess merchandise promotes too many gender stereotypes."

"So let her watch _Mulan_ after _Cinderella_. They're not going to corrupt her."

"I haven't seen _Mulan_ ," Bri said.

"Jesus, Joey. You can't diss the Princesses if you won't even let her watch the most gender-bendy one!"

"It wasn't intentional!"

JC stared at him.

"I swear, C, we just never bought that movie."

"You're rich and you have a six-year-old. You're supposed to have all the Disney movies."

"C..."

"Boy or girl, it doesn't matter. Six-year-olds get Disney. It's going to be a Constitutional Amendment one of these days."

"I think the Mouse--"

JC held up his hand.

"The Mouse didn't brainwash me."

"I wasn't--"

"I'm not saying they're perfect, but if Disney could really corrupt minds by perpetuating gender stereotypes, then how come I'm... well... this is awkward." He looked pointedly towards Briahna, then back at Joey. "You know what I mean. How come I'm like me?"

Joey rubbed JC's arm.

"You're definitely one of a kind," he said.

"What's 'gender-bendy'?" Bri asked.

"Oh lord," Joey said.

"It's when girls and boys don't act or dress quite the way they're expected to. Well, it's more complicated than that, but..."

"It's not like a bendy straw?"

JC smiled.

"Nope. Sorry."

"Bendy straws are the best."

"I know."

Joey's eyes were all crinkled up and smiling at him again.

"What?" JC asked.

"We'll get the rest of the movies."

"We'll get them today," JC said. "My treat."

#

 

They argued a while over who would be buying the movies. Then they had to figure out where the nearest Disney Store was. JC's driver didn't know, so he ended up taking the Elvis shoes home while JC joined Joey and Briahna.

At the Disney Store, Joey got all twitchy. He obviously wanted to stick close and talk with JC, but keeping an eye on Briahna was almost an athletic event. Eventually, Briahna settled down in front of the huge display case of miniatures, and Joey relaxed.

JC hooked a basket over his arm and started pulling DVDs from the shelves. He was reaching for the next one, when Joey said, "We have _Cinderella_ already."

"Now you'll have a spare."

"C..."

"It makes more sense to buy a complete set."

"You don't need to--"

"And then I'll know that you're not just claiming to have it in some sort of misguided attempt to protect impressionable, young Fatones from stereotypes about foot-fetishists."

Joey coughed and looked around.

"It's a plot device," he said quietly. "Not a fetish."

"Right."

JC dropped the DVD into his shopping basket.

"Prince Charming travels throughout his kingdom, going door-to-door and slipping a shoe onto the foot of every twentysomething woman he meets, simply because he can't remember anything about his dream girl's physical appearance except for her dainty little feet? Trust me. It's a fetish."

"Well, you'd know."

JC nodded until he caught sight of Joey's grin.

"What? No. I don't have any fetishes."

"Oh, come on. You have a bigger hard-on for alien chicks than even Captain Kirk."

"Shut up."

" _Why-yi-yi-yippie_ \--"

Several shoppers looked over at them curiously.

JC elbowed him.

"Stop it. It's not about the alien chicks."

"No, I get it. Green girls are hot. I'm not judging you."

"It's the technology."

"You can't like probes better than girls."

JC's shoulders were tense. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked around.

"It's the design aesthetic, okay? The sci-fi, space-age aesthetic. It's... appealing. In their technology, form disguises function. Everything's sleek and smooth and looks like they were meant to be touched all over. They invite it. Their form invites it, demands it, and you have to pick them up and touch them just to figure out what they are."

Talking about it in public made him uncomfortable. He nudged Joey towards the back of the store.

"I think it's because we, as a society, envision the future as a sterile place where individuals don't touch each other very much. Technology becomes sensual to compensate--"

"Whoa, JC."

JC blinked.

"Sorry, I just--"

"I just wanted to know which you like better. The girls? Or the probes?"

"It's apples and oranges--" No, that would only confuse the issue. How should he explain it? "It's sex and sex. You can't compare something with its self, not like that. And there's very little about sex that I don't like."

"Hmm..."

"Our bodies... um..."

Was this conversation bothering Joey, too? 'Cause suddenly all he could smell was Joey--his shampoo, his cologne, and just... him--like maybe his temperature had also been bumped up a few degrees.

JC closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

Yeah.

God.

_Time and place, JC. Pull yourself together._

He opened his eyes.

"'Our bodies'?" Joey said.

"Yeah, never mind. Can we please just get our movies and get out of here?"

#

 

JC started to invite them back to his place, but then he remembered the waffle girl. Yeah. He'd been gone almost a week, so he wasn't sure who or what they'd be walking into, but there was a good chance it wouldn't be something Briahna should see. At the very least, she'd pick up bad table manners.

He tapped Joey's arm.

"Man, this is lame, Joey, but ah..."

Joey's lips quirked like he was a second from laughing at JC again, but then Briahna tugged on his hand and said something about ice cream.

"Just a second, B."

His eyes never left JC's.

"I don't know who's hanging at my place, so..."

"You're coming with us, C. Then I won't have to leave when it's Briahna's bedtime."

That settled it.

Joey told Briahna that she didn't need ice cream, but she could have some if, and only if, JC had some too. Between Bri's pleas and the way Joey's hands spanned JC's waist while he teased him about being too skinny, JC couldn't refuse.

They went to Coldstone, and JC tried to focus on the way the girl behind the counter folded Gummi Bears into Briahna's ice cream. It was better to concentrate on that than on Joey's hands--even if Joey's hands were probably sweeter.

#

 

Kelly wasn't at the hotel. Joey explained that Father/Daughter Day was also Girl's Night Out.

"I'm a girl, too!" Briahna said.

"Right," Joey said. "It's Kelly's Night Out."

No one seemed in the mood for a movie yet, so Joey turned on the TV and the Playstation. Bri untangled the controllers and shoved one into JC's hand. He watched the game cycle through its title screens. It was _Kingdom Hearts_. JC had never played it. He fiddled with the controller until Joey took it from him and drew him to the couch.

Joey cleared all of the little black monsters from one area of the game, and then handed the controller to Briahna who laughed and giggled and made Donald, Goofy, and the spiky-haired kid climb trees and giant mushrooms and things. Joey tweaked one of her curls and went to grab some beers. When he returned, he settled in with his arm around JC and his feet on the coffee table.

"This is all Chris' fault," he said.

" _Kingdom Hearts_?"

"The Princesses."

Joey explained that Chris had given them the games after declaring that Bri was "ready for big kid games" because she was a grade-schooler now. She wasn't very good at them yet, but she'd watched Chris play enough that she was all into the Princesses-of-Heart parts of the story.

"He tried to tell her that it was all about Goofy kickin' butt and taking names, but of course, she gets hooked on the Princesses instead."

They took turns playing until Bri grew bored. Then they ordered a pizza and switched to playing _Trouble_ while they waited for the delivery.

JC had forgotten how grating the Pop-o-Matic Bubble's pop was, but Briahna loved it. She volunteered to press the bubble for all of them, and after a while, JC decided that the pop was strangely addictive. He could resample it and stick it under the bass track of a song. What song, though?

Hmm... maybe a cover of "Burning Love."

He'd have to consider it.

Joey's phone rang during dinner. He checked the display and then went into the bedroom with the phone, so JC and Bri started watching _Mulan_ without him.

Briahna made him skip the scenes back to play the songs over again. They were on their fourth repeat of "I'll Make a Man Out of You," and JC had finally joined B in singing _with all the force of a great typhoon, with all the strength of a raging fire, mysterious as the dark side of the moon_ when Joey returned and pressed another beer into his hand.

"Don't let her keep repeating the songs, C." He leaned close and whispered in his ear. "It's how she delays going to bed."

JC shivered.

When the movie was over, Joey left to supervise Bri's bedtime routine and JC dozed comfortably while sipping his beer. Video games and board games, simple food and Disney songs--he couldn't remember the last time he had spent an evening that was so... domestic.

It was hardly his scene, but it was also welcomingly familiar--and that wasn't just because of Joey's wandering hands. He knew Joey and he knew those hands didn't really mean anything. And the parts of him that were insisting that something was new and different this time 'round were just being ridiculous. It had simply been too long.

He'd forgotten how it had once always felt like this, because, yeah, he never would have called the buses "domestic," but that's what tonight had felt like. A bus night.

They'd done all sorts of silly, companionable things to stay entertained when they were half-bored, half-exhausted, and still totally amped on the high of touring and being so popular. 'Cept what were he and Joey amped up on now?

Just being together?

Or maybe it was just that things were going so well for Joey right now. He looked amazing.

He'd never looked bad to JC, but now, he looked hotter than he had in years--maybe sexier than ever. That couldn't just be because of his recent successes. Such a great aura had to be a reflection of personal success, too. Everything with him and Bri and Kelly must be awesome.

And that was good, because Joey deserved it. All of it.

"Hey," Joey said.

JC opened his eyes. Joey was leaning over him.

"No brooding on my couch."

JC stretched and struggled to get up. The couch was too deep and marshmallowy to give him up easily.

"Can I go brood in that chair?" he asked once he was standing.

Joey tackled him. There was a second when he was pinned under Joey and he gasped, because it was--

God. So fuckin' perfect. More than he'd ever w--

And then Joey rolled them over and they were sprawled across the couch. Joey was an interesting mix of hard and soft underneath him, and JC could breathe again.

"No brooding at all, C. That mysterious as the moon stuff is crap, you know."

"The _dark_ side of the moon."

"Dark side, light side, it's all crap."

JC opened his mouth, but Joey pressed his fingers against his lips.

"Unless we're talking about the Force, all right?"

JC nodded, and Joey's fingers slipped over his lips. It would be so easy to lick them. He could just--

"Talking about your feelings doesn't make you less of a man," Joey said.

He could just do the right thing and ignore temptation. He shifted so he wasn't quite so intimately pressed against Joey.

"I'm secure in my manliness," he said. "And Jerry Springer has never had to come teach me how to be macho."

"Jerry knows a lost cause when he sees one, babe."

"I'm not a lost--"

"Hey--"

Joey slid his hand around and cupped the back of his head. JC had seen him do the same thing to Bri hundreds of times since she was born.

"--you know I'm only joking, right? You're not a lost cause."

"I know," JC said, but he must not have been convincing because Joey just pulled him closer.

"You've been quiet tonight, even for you... and Lance told me about Jive."

Of course he did. The question was whether Lance had waited till JC got back from New York or had told Joey while they were still partying through fashion week.

"Was that him? Earlier tonight?"

"Maybe."

Joey carded his fingers through JC's hair.

"I should have told you," JC said. "I know I should have, the other week in Florida, but--"

"That's okay because you're going to tell me now."

"Am I?"

"Yeah, 'cause you want to."

"Hmm."

After a long quiet moment, Joey reached for the remote and turned on MTV. JC took it from him and switched to Nick at Nite, so Joey stole it right back and muted the TV.

"Okay?" Joey asked.

"Yeah."

Then Joey turned off the lamp, and JC started talking.

JC told him about fashion week and some of the things he'd done with Lance. He talked about a couple of his songs and how he was thinking about remixing them since it had been so long since he'd first recorded them.

Then he watched how the flickering light from the TV played over Joey's face like a high-tech candle flame, and made himself tell the rest.

He told him how it felt like he was getting out of an abusive relationship, that he'd been pouring all of his love into something--his album, not Jive--and getting less and less out of it, until he knew that his love was worthless because it accomplished nothing. And then suddenly everything was over, and he should be celebrating, but he wasn't sure who he was any more.

"You've always had a stronger sense of self than any of us," Joey said.

"No... I think that's Chris."

"I think you know who you are, you're just distracted right now by your new freedom. You got used to all the restraints and then wham! It's No Strings Attached all over again."

"I don't know... I feel like I'm drifting. It's just me and a broken compass."

"Well, you'll soon get back in touch with yourself..."

Joey started giggling.

JC rolled back on top of him and peered down at him.

"You can't just start laughing at me, man, I'll get a complex."

" _'Cause when I'm all alone,_ " Joey sang.

Oh, of all the--

"Shut up."

" _I lie awake and masturbate._ "

"Don't--"

JC tried to clamp a hand over his mouth, but Joey grabbed his wrists and twisted and rolled and--

"Ow!"

\--they fell off the damn couch.

Joey could barely keep a straight face while he continued to sing.

" _I love to hear the sounds you make. Baby here I come..._ "

JC probably should have struggled some. But he was under Joey, and Joey had JC's wrists trapped and pinned over his head.

"That's a terrible song for you."

"Really?" Joey cocked his head. " _Baby here I come..._ No, I sound good."

Joey felt good, too.

"No one would believe you."

"Hmm?"

Joey tucked his thumbs under JC's bracelets and rubbed his pulse points. JC bit his lip, but the pain wasn't a good distraction. It just made everything sweeter.

"When I..." JC had to swallow and try again. "When I sing it, they think I'm crazy, but they believe me. They wouldn't believe you. Joey Fatone doesn't masturbate."

But JC did, and if he had known that he was going to end up like this tonight, he would have finished what he started in the shower.

"And I have the T-shirt to prove it!" Joey said.

"Right."

"I'll tell you a secret--" Joey's lips brushed against JC's cheekbone.

JC had to stop this now.

"You're crushing me."

"Oh... fine."

Joey levered himself up, but that rocked their lower bodies together. Instinct had JC arching against him until they both froze--JC from embarrassment and Joey... he couldn't tell what made Joey freeze.

"I wish I hadn't turned out the lights," Joey said.

"Joe..."

JC didn't know what to say.

Get off me?

Fuck me?

He was about to try just "Please," when the door opened and Kelly was home.

#

 

JC did the only thing he could under the circumstances. He got the hell out of there.

It was one thing to vaguely hope that someday there would be a time and a place for them--

No. What was that? _West Side Story_?

Okay, that was just a little too sappy with just a little too much death at the end, and JC would rather prefer the die-of-old-age option, but still--

It's one thing to daydream about fucking one of your best friends and another thing to fuck with his marriage. Maybe JC wasn't into the whole monogamy scene, but he could respect other people's decisions. JC was all about diversity and respect.

Joey's family was obviously something good for him, something that made him glow like he could light up the Great White Way with just his smile. JC was not going to mess with that.

He crawled into bed and kept his hands carefully flat on top of the blankets.

#

 

Joey called him the next morning.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You left pretty abruptly last night."

"I think it was just jet lag catching up with me suddenly."

"Huh. Well... as long as you're okay."

"I'm great."

"Good. So, Kel and I had a long talk--"

JC's heart beat hard in his chest. That scene last night may have been nothing more than Joey being Joey, but it would have made an incriminating picture--especially if it had been obvious just how much JC had been enjoying it.

"--about the Princesses."

The Princesses? What the fuck?

"She said the merchandise worried her more than the movies, and that makes sense 'cause you know what kind of creeps are in merchandizing."

The kind of creeps who had made them lots of money.

"But she agreed that Briahna could have what she wanted if she watched all of the movies first, so she's not just accepting the marketing, you know? So the Princesses don't become role-models just because they're pretty or something. And we decided that Briahna has to watch all of the movies with you."

"What?"

"Kel says it's important for B to see a male role model who likes the Princesses too."

"You can do that--"

"Not like you can, C. Besides, it would be more effective if it's not just her father who's the freak, right?"

"I don't see why--"

"And I think you're gender-bendy enough to break any stereotypes you come across."

"That's the most--"

"And anyway, I just--"

"--ridiculous thing I've--"

"--want you to spend more time with us--"

"--ever heard..."

"--with me."

"Oh."

"You're hardly ever in Orlando any more."

"That's--"

"And I miss you."

"Oh." That was embarrassingly gratifying to hear. "Thanks, Joe... But that's still the craziest thing I've ever heard."

"You shared a bus with Chris and Justin, I know you've heard crazier."

JC laughed.

"There was a reason why I liked to sleep so much."

#

 

JC considered the Princess Proposition.

On the one hand, being the token *NSYNC gender-bender had grown old long ago. It was narrow-minded of the guys to always see him like that, but he wasn't upset by it. He understood that it was a form of protective blindness for them. They were all queer--they never would have made it so big if all those thirteen-years-old girls hadn't recognized them as something intriguingly different from "normal" boys. But it was hard for most people to separate queerness from sexual orientation.

It wouldn't help Briahna, in the long run, to buy into the guys' notions of gender-queerness. But if Bri got to know him better, maybe she would pick up a few things. JC would gladly role-model being unashamed to be who you were and like whatever you liked. He could have fun with it, too.

And on the other hand, well... Was there really any question? How could he refuse anything--no matter how stupid--that called for spending more time with Joey?

#

 

JC invited them over for _Cinderella_. Joey had a block of free time Thursday evening because Kelly had other plans.

"Kelly's invited too, man."

"She'd appreciate that, C. Thanks. But she's been looking forward to this. She doesn't get out this way as often as she'd like."

#

 

On Thursday, Joey presented him with a grocery bag full of theater-style microwave popcorn, Dots, Pixie Stix, and strawberry Twizzlers. _Cinderella_ and _Kingdom Hearts_ were also tucked into the bag.

"Great," JC said. "But I've got a better game. Come and see."

He had _Monopoly, Junior_ 's Disney Princess Edition set up already in the living room.

"Oh!" Bri said and pounced on the little Princess playing pieces.

Joey laughed. "You're a real piece of work, C."

JC rubbed his hands together.

"Wanna play for real money?"

"You're only asking because you think you'll win."

"Lance isn't here, so I have more than a fighting chance."

"Ha! I taught him everything he knows."

"Then how come he always kicks your sorry ass?"

"A good Jedi trains his Padawan in hope that his skills will one day exceed those of his master."

"Right."

After examining each little cardboard Princess, Briahna declared that she would be Ariel because Ariel was the best.

"You haven't seen all of the movies yet," JC said. "How do you know she's the best?"

"I've seen _Little Mermaid_ and _Cinderella_ and _Beauty and the Beast_."

"And _Mulan_ ," Joey said.

"And _Mulan_ \--and Ariel's the best 'cause Ariel sings."

"They all sing," JC said.

"Nuh-uh."

"Sure they do. Belle and Cinderella sing for birds and things."

"And mice," Joey added.

"Yeah, Cinderella sings to sewing mice. That's pretty special."

"Ariel sings to fish," Bri said.

"Can the fish sew?"

"Why would they sew?" Joey asked. "Fish don't wear clothes."

"Singing, sewing, clothes-wearing mice," JC said. "You can't top that."

"Maybe we could just play the game," Joey said.

JC agreed, but told Briahna that he'd ask her about her favorite Princess again when they'd seen all of the movies.

Joey gave him the Mulan playing piece. JC handed it back.

"I want to be Belle."

"Tough. You're Mulan, I'm Belle."

"I'm the oldest, I should get--"

"I'm your guest."

"You're welcome here any time, which means you're not a guest. You're more like... the stray cat I leave milk out for."

Briahna giggled.

"Right," Joey said. "And that means I'm the Beast, and Beauty should be with me."

JC batted his lashes. "But I am with you."

#

 

It was a good thing that they hadn't played for real money. The dice had blessed Briahna, and JC didn't want the story to get around that he'd been taken to the cleaners by a six-year-old. Lance and Justin would have never let him live it down.

After the game, Joey went to microwave the popcorn, and JC brought out his manicure kit. He explained to Briahna that the best parts of _Cinderella_ were the primping scenes.

"And we should get to do it too. Right?"

"Right!"

Briahna immediately homed in on the glitter polish JC had bought for her. He also had a nearly-naked, sheer pink for himself. His open-toed Elvis shoes were too pretty for bare toenails.

Joey returned with sodas and popcorn.

"Daddy, we're painting our nails."

"Yeah? You're not painting them yourself, are you?"

"I'm doing them," JC said.

"Good thinking--unless you want to redecorate?"

They put the movie in. Joey and Bri sat on the couch, and JC sat on the floor so he could paint her toes. She was wigglier than he'd expected, so it was a bit of a challenge.

Joey occasionally tossed a piece of popcorn at him.

"Hey! I thought you were worried for my carpeting."

"Not my fault," Joey said. "You're supposed to catch them."

He demonstrated by catching a piece in his mouth. Then Briahna had to try, and JC privately thanked the makers of ScotchGuard.

Instead of throwing the next piece, Joey held it in front of JC's mouth.

"I'll feed you."

"That's--"

Joey took advantage of his open mouth, and JC was forced to chew and swallow before he could speak.

"You don't need to do that."

"Sure, I do. You can't do our nails with buttery fingers."

"'Our nails'? Am I doing yours, too?"

Joey shrugged. "Why not?"

JC grinned.

"I'll pick the color myself, though."

"Don't you trust me?"

"As far as I can throw you--which is like half the distance between here and my toes."

So JC stayed on the floor and painted Joey's toenails, while Joey continued to feed him popcorn. Each time, it seemed like Joey brushed his fingers against JC's lips a little more. Sometimes, he wouldn't let go until JC caught a taste of Joey's fingers. There was too much butter and salt to the taste and not enough plain Joey.

He grew achingly aware of the position he was in. He could lean forward and a quick unzip would lead to a wealth of unadulterated Joey flavor.

If it weren't for Briahna...

#

 

Kelly and Briahna went home the next day.

JC hadn't realized that their visit was going to be so short. He was disappointed. He'd really thought the movie thing was an excuse for Joey to spend more time with him, but he must have been mistaken.

Joey was still in town, but he was busier now that his family was gone. JC saw him a few times, but only briefly and it was never as personal as their movie nights had been.

Lance called him early the next week. He shared his latest tales of New York and asked about the progress of JC's post-Jive plans. JC had nothing definite to tell him and he hated that. _Kate_ deserved better.

Lance offered a few ideas and then changed the subject.

"So... Briahna's been telling me that she can't watch Disney movies without you."

"That's not true."

"You can't just go around depriving my goddaughter of Disney movies."

"I'm not! I swear. Joey and Kelly are just crazy!"

"How can kids not have Disney?"

"That's what I said, but it's just the Princesses, so B's not totally missing out."

"She shouldn't be missing out at all. Fix it."

"I can't just fly across the country every time she wants to watch a movie."

"So watch them with her on the phone or something."

Oh.

#

 

Two nights later, Joey and JC joined Kelly and Briahna on speaker phones, and they watched _Aladdin_.

It was weird at first until they compensated for the tinny echo of two soundtracks playing not quite in synch. And JC felt guilty when Joey sidled up next to him as close as he'd need to be if they were all squeezed on the couch together. But it wasn't like JC was going to forget himself and start blowing Joey--at least not without the temptation of buttery fingers first.

After they said their goodbyes to the girls, Joey congratulated him for the great idea. JC told him that it had been Lance's.

"Oh, really? Huh."

"You're not going to tell me how Lance always has the best ideas?"

"I'm just surprised 'cause it's right up your alley, isn't it? Like phone sex without the sex?"

"Contrary to popular belief, I am not the King of Phone Sex."

"Nah," Joey said. "I am."

JC blinked.

"Hey, you spend fourteen years in an often long-distance relationship and then maybe you'll be close to matching my skills."

"Yeah," JC said. "But that's like... old married-couple phone sex. Once a month and it's over in five minutes." He bounded off the couch to dodge Joey's blow. "At least it saves on your phone bills!"

Joey chased after him.

"Bastard! I'll teach you to doubt my prowess!"

Joey caught him in the hallway and hoisted him up over his shoulder. Tyler came out into the hall to see what the commotion was.

"Hey, Tyler," Joey said. "I'm borrowing your brother for a bit."

"Just bring him back in one piece."

"Will do."

Tyler left.

"Know what would be better than the speaker phones?" Joey asked.

"You putting me down?"

Joey tightened his hold on JC's legs.

"Aw, is all the blood rushing to your head?"

"I'm going to get seasick."

"Are you implying that I'm as big as a boat?"

Since Joey's butt was right there, JC pat it.

"Says right here: _U.S.S. Fatone_."

"Sexiest ship in the fleet, baby."

Joey hauled him back into the living room and dropped him on the couch.

"Web cams," Joey said.

JC stared up at him. He was dizzy.

"Huh?"

"Video-conferencing would be better than speaker phones. For the next time, right?"

"Oh. Yeah, I suppose. I have some somewhere."

"You don't know where?"

"'Digital Getdown' is just a song, Joe."

"Now that's a shame."

Joey couldn't possibly mean that like it sounded. Could he?

Nah, it had to be some reference to something Kelly and Joey did together--something that JC really shouldn't think about, shouldn't picture...

Joey sending Kelly video of himself getting off?

Oh, God, yeah. That wasn't good for JC's peace of mind. Not at all.

#

 

The next day, four top-of-the-line web cams were delivered to JC's house.

He didn't know why Joey thought he needed four of them.

#

 

Shooting for the _Singing Bee_ wrapped up, and Joey returned to the East Coast.

Joey sent him notes or left him voicemail messages every couple of days. He seemed to be bouncing between Florida and New York so much that he never had time to call when JC could actually answer the phone.

It was odd. Joey was more in touch with him than he'd been in years and it was great, but somehow not enough--and JC shouldn't think like that. He had to remind himself frequently about the spirit of thankfulness and living in the present moment.

Finally, their schedules meshed long enough for a quick phone call, but Joey had a complaint.

"B won't stop singing 'I'll Make a Man Out of You' and it's your fault."

"It's hardly my fault that she's a ham. Show business is in her blood."

"Over and over again. People are going to think we're raising her to be some sort of ball-breaker or something."

"That would be the opposite problem."

"Huh?"

"'I'll... uh... Take the Man Out of You'? 'I'll... Un-Man You'?"

"Christ! Don't even say that!"

JC hummed a little.

"Don't sing it, either!"

"You should give her something else to sing."

"I miss my little girl who loved Winnie-the-Pooh and only sang about Heffalumps."

"Eh."

"Heffalumps and Woozles."

"I don't like that song."

" _A heffalump or woozle is very confuzle..._ "

"I said I don't--"

"It's cute."

"It's kinda creepy."

JC thought Woozles sounded like the sort of thing that would chase after you with a handful of hypodermic needles.

Urg.

Be a very wary bear, indeed.

After the call, JC decided to help Joey out. He racked his brain for manly songs.

It was hard to think of PG-rated ones, but he finally settled on "Gaston" from _Beauty and the Beast_ , the Village People's "Macho Man" (Joey would kill him), Jim Croce's "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" (maybe Joey would forgive him), and--because he had to do his part as the Fatone Family's own private gender-bender--"Wig In a Box" from _Hedwig and the Angry Inch_.

He zipped the MP3s and attached them to an email.

 _Hey, Honey B-- I hear you're getting really good at singing your_ Mulan _songs. Here's some more I think you'll like. --Love, JC_

A couple hours later, JC received a text message.

_Bastard. we read her mail 1st!!_

He replied: _She's 6, of course you do._

Then his phone rang again.

"'Wig In a Box'?"

"Hi, Joey."

"'Wig In a Box'?"

"I like it."

"It's about cross-dressing!"

"Hedwig's really more of a--"

"It's about putting on women's clothes!"

"No, it's not, Joe. It's about putting on wigs and dreaming about being someone else for a while. That's hardly anything new for you, right? Acting and dreams of bigger lives? And you so don't get to worry about how antiquated gender roles are going to stifle your daughter if you freak out when someone else refuses to be stifled--"

"No, no. C--"

"And you can't make me your spokesperson for this, 'cause I'm just--"

"No, C, you're right, and I know it."

JC breathed deeply and didn't say anything.

"I didn't mean to make you the spokesman for this--"

"I don't want to be--"

"No, I know, C. I get it. I just want you in our life, okay? And if I have to do it by bribing you with Disney movies..."

"I bought the movies," JC said.

"Yeah, you did."

"You made me pay my own bribe?"

"You volunteered."

"You took advantage of my naivete."

Joey laughed so deep and sexy, he could have borrowed it from Lance.

"No," he said. "I was a perfect gentleman."

Joey's chattiness took over, and JC curled up on the couch. Joey's voice in his ear for an hour--life was good.

Joey shared Joe Sr.'s latest news, described the bicycle he wanted to buy Briahna, and talked about the _Singing Bee_ going to Australia. They decided that Joey didn't have to explain Hedwig until Briahna was old enough to google it--and then he'd have so much else to worry about, it wouldn't be an issue.

JC also agreed to try out the new web cams Joey had bought him. Maybe he'd feel stupid, but it would be nice to watch another movie with them.

Finally, Joey had to hang up.

"I'm falling asleep on you, man."

That would be nice.

A few minutes later, he received another text message.

_Croce rocks tho._

JC grinned and took his phone up to bed. It was too early, but he could sleep in solidarity with his favorite Floridians anytime.

 _Don't step on Sperman's cape,_ he sent.

_Dude. he's not Sperm Man!!!_

Oops.

#

 

JC had to buy another set of the Princess movies, but a few nights later all four of them watched _Sleeping Beauty_ together. He was supposed to be the expert, so he didn't tell Briahna that he'd never seen it before.

The movie felt slow and dated to him, except for Maleficent. She was magnificently ahead of her time.

Joey had a blast teasing him about his "new crush." He sent emails with her head pasted on Jessica Rabbit's body. JC deleted them. Then Joey sent file after file of Maleficent's head pasted on stills from some freakish tentacle-porn anime. JC IM'd him in reply.

**You dork. Don't forget the briars engulfing the enchanted castle. My girl's totally on the other end of those tentacles!**

**I shoulda figured. Give my apologies to M. I know you like to be restrained.**

Fuck.

JC had to break his former-bandmate masturbation rules that night.

#

 

Kelly didn't join them for _Snow White_.

JC ignored his TV and just watched Joey make silly faces whenever the dwarves were on screen. The video quality on his laptop wasn't nearly good enough.

JC missed him.

#

 

And then Joey went to Australia, and it only got worse.

JC called Briahna a couple of times so he wouldn't get another scary godfather lecture from Lance. If he was also calling because Briahna was so very much like Joey at times, well... that was no one's business but his own.

#

 

Joey called as soon as the fires hit the national news.

"I'm perfectly safe," JC assured him.

"You're sure?"

"Positive. We'll get evacuation orders if anything changes."

"That's not perfectly safe!"

Joey kept calling every four hours because "Briahna worries." On the second day, JC gave up and booked a flight to Orlando.

He called Joey from the airport.

"When I don't answer your next call, I'm not dead," he explained.

"What?!"

"Or maybe I will be dead..."

"C!"

"What are the odds of dying in a wildfire? They've got to be lower than the ones for dying in a plane crash, right?"

"JC, that's not funny."

He wasn't joking, he was just curious. He thought Lance might know the odds. He could--Oh! Joey was making angry noises on the other end of the line.

"Sorry," he said.

"You're staying with us," Joey told him.

"I can--"

"You're staying with us, Joshua Chasez."

"Ooo, the father voice." JC couldn't argue with that.

"That's right."

"Aren't you supposed to use my middle name, too?"

"That's only for when you disobey me."

JC glanced around and then adjusted himself.

"That's uh... kinda kinky, Joe."

"Whatever it takes to get you here. Now, gimme your flight number. I'll send a car."

#

 

Joey didn't send a car. Instead, he sent a gleaming white, stretch SUV. JC rolled his eyes when he saw it because Joey, God bless him, didn't do anything small if he didn't have to.

The driver stowed his bags in the back. Usually, they opened the door for their passengers first, but JC didn't mind. He'd never thought touching a car door was beneath him. He pulled on the handle and--

"Holy shi--"

\--was assaulted by the raucous sounds of... a travel-sized New Year's celebration?

He put a hand over his pounding heart and stared at his friends as they laughed and congratulated themselves. Joey, Kelly, Briahna, Steve, and Chris were all inside wearing sparkly pink party hats.

"Hey, Chris," JC said.

Chris beamed.

"Suckers! He still loves me best!" He jabbed at Steve. "And you, you owe me a twenty!"

"Hey, C," Joey said.

"Come on," Kelly said. "We saved a hat for you."

He piled in next to Chris. Briahna tossed him the hat, and Chris stole it and tried to jam it on JC's head for him while Steve dropped a bag of noisemakers in his lap.

JC batted Chris' hands away from his head.

"What the--what is this?"

"It's a party, you freak," Chris said.

"A theme party," Kelly said.

"It's our 'Yay! JC is, in fact, smart enough to run from fire!' party," Joey said.

"Which puts him one step up from Lance," Steve said.

"Hey," Joey said. "Don't diss my boy."

"He's got a point," Chris said.

Briahna crawled over Steve and Chris' laps to hug him.

"Hey, Honey B." He hugged her right back. "Let's run away, just you and me."

"Okay."

Joey and Chris started a battle of the noisemakers--like the dueling banjos, only with cheap party favors instead. JC leaned back and smiled.

God, he loved a bunch of morons.

#

 

Later, Briahna wanted to watch _Pocahontas_ , and she wanted to watch it at their drive-in theater. Joey loved his theater and was all for it, but JC begged off.

"I just sat in a plane for hours. I'm finished with sitting in vehicles today."

Chris waggled his brows.

"You could always try the back seat."

"Come on, C," Joey said. "It won't be that bad."

"My butt will go numb."

"Yeah," Chris said. "Not everyone around here has a nice, big Italian butt."

"You're just jealous," Joey said.

"Yeah, yeah," Chris said. "Tuck it under, Fatone."

Kelly chuckled. Joey winked at her, then grabbed Briahna's hand and danced her around the room.

"Show off!" Kelly called after him.

"You could really watch it without me," JC told her. "I don't think it has any bad gender issues."

"Oh, _Pocahontas_?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm..."

"There's still the whole romanticized-Native-Americans problem. Idealization and marginalization totally go hand-in-hand, but that's not really my area of expertise, so--"

"You could watch it in the grotto," Chris said.

"Ooo, yeah," JC agreed. "The grotto's great and the pseudo-natural outdoor setting would be the perfect counterpoint to the animated wilderness--"

"I can smell the colors of the wind already," Chris said.

"Sounds good, guys. I'll tell the Dynamic Duo."

She waved her hand to get Joey's attention, but he was busy showing Bri the steps to... uh... JC thought it was the Foxtrot.

"Well, anyway," Kelly said. "It'll certainly be a change from the movies we usually watch in the grotto at night."

She left them.

"What do you think that means?" Chris asked.

"Hmm?"

"I'm thinking porn parties in the grotto."

"Chris! Geez."

"You don't think so?"

"Kids play in there."

"Yeah, but Kelly... I sometimes get a kinky vibe from her. Don't you?"

"You sometimes get a kinky vibe from sandwich meat."

Chris grinned.

"Yeah, and you know what else, C?"

"What?"

" _All day long I dream about sex_ \--"

JC chased him out of the room.

#

 

They stayed up late, and Chris didn't leave until the morning.

JC spent the day simply enjoying himself. There was always plenty to do at Joey's and no pressure to do anything at all--kind of like the world's most laid-back amusement park.

In the evening, they piled onto the couch to watch _Beauty and the Beast_. It was JC's favorite Princess movie, and it was obviously a Fatone favorite as well. Joey and Briahna seemed to know every word of it.

Joey made them repeat the ballroom scene over and over so he could take turns waltzing with all three of them. JC tried to refuse when it was his turn, but the girls insisted that he join in.

"So," JC said as they danced, "I think I know who B got her bad pause-and-playback habit from."

"But it's cute when I do it."

After the movie, Joey took Briahna up to bed. Kelly opened a bottle of wine and poured JC a glass.

"You looked good dancing with Joey."

He was certain that he had looked like a dork, but he thanked her.

"I've got to say, though, that I never thought I'd see the day when Joey had better moves than you."

"Wow." He laughed. "Is there a good way to respond to that?"

"Well... you could go take secret lessons and then return to challenge him to a dance-off to defend your honor."

"Right," JC said. "I've always wanted to live in a telenovela."

"You might like it."

If it involved dancing with Joey again, he probably would.

#

 

Joey returned from tucking Bri in, and Kelly voted for an adult movie and smacked Joey's hand as he tried to pinch her butt.

"Not that kind of movie!"

"Aww, baby, you're no fun."

For his impertinence, Kelly rejected Joey's choice of movie.

"You're going to watch the _Transformers_ a million times. I want something special tonight."

So, _Memoirs of a Geisha_ went into the DVD player, and they returned to the couch. Joey sat in the middle and wrapped an arm around JC.

"C, buddy, never get married, okay? You get a wife and the next thing you know, you're watching chick flicks all the time."

"Oh, yeah," Kelly said. "'Cause that's so much more emasculating than watching Disney flicks."

Joey wrapped his other arm around her.

"Shut up, woman."

Kelly laughed.

The movie was beautiful, but JC would never remember much of it. He was comfortable, there was good wine, and it was a long, long movie. He fell asleep.

At one point, he woke up just enough to realize that his head was on Joey's lap.

He thought he should move. He told his body to get up, but it wasn't listening. He tried starting smaller and told just his arm to move. Maybe he managed to make his fingers twitch.

Then a hand covered his, and the movie hit a dramatic moment. He drifted away on the swells of its soundtrack.

He stirred again later. There was warm denim under his cheek, and his hand felt... funny.

Were Joey's fingers twined through his?

He pried his eyes open. The TV was off and the room was dark. Everything was out of focus, but it seemed that Joey and Kelly were both holding his hand.

Get up, he told himself. At least let them know you're awake.

He closed his eyes, listened to the quiet, and did nothing.

One of the hands left his, and a moment later somebody--he didn't know who--brushed their fingers through his hair.

Joey quietly said, "I love you."

And, shit, JC so shouldn't be here. He was an intruder in--

The hand on his tightened for a moment, and JC realized it was Joey's.

He slipped back into sleep.

#

His dreams were full of Joey.

It was like being trapped in a malfunctioning isolation tank. Instead of being shut off from his senses and left alone with only his thoughts, he was set blind into a sea of sense memories and every memory was Joey--the warmth of his body, the strength of his hands, his shampoo's scent and that wonderful smell at the crook of his neck, the laugh reserved for private jokes, the taste of butter on his fingers, the sound of him saying "I love you" when he truly meant it, and the taste of his mouth.

But JC had never kissed him that way. He didn't know the taste of his mouth.

He jerked upright and then blinked in confusion. He was in his bed in the guestroom. He should have been left on the couch when Joey and Kelly went to bed.

Joey had to have carried him up here. He could certainly do it, but why would he have? They'd all slept on each other's couches. It was half-expected when they were drinking.

And why wasn't the memory of Joey's mouth fading away like the rest of his dreams?

Had he kissed Joey last night?

God, JC needed to get out of here. He wasn't a saint. If he stuck around temptation long enough, he would follow through on it. Life was meant to be enjoyed, after all. But not now.

It had been easier to think about hooking up with Joey before he gotten closer to Briahna and Kelly. It was impossible now.

He needed to hook up with some of his girls. Or maybe see if Chris was interested in a little fun. It had been a while...

Huh.

Now why didn't that seem as appealing as it usually did?

The possible answer scared him into stumbling out of bed and packing his bags.

#

 

Kelly was in the kitchen stirring a pitcher of orange juice. She put down the spoon when she saw him.

"Hey, C." She hopped up on tip-toes and kissed his cheek.

JC felt about three-inches tall.

"Hey, Kel."

"You okay?"

"I uh... I just got a call."

"God, are your parents okay?"

"My parents?"

"You look like you've had bad news. Is it the fires, then?"

Jesus. He hated lying to Kelly. Her heart was almost as big as Joey's.

"No... no. Just... I promised a friend something, and he called and I need to go back and help him right away."

"Aww--"

"I'm sorry--"

"No, I'm sorry, C. You deserved more of a break from everything."

"No, I--"

She hugged him.

"Don't stress over it any more. Okay? If you need to help your friend, you need to help your friend. Now, what time is your flight?"

"I haven't--"

"Well, call the airport while I go get Bri. Joey's got a meeting, but Bri and I can see you off properly."

"That's not necess--"

Kelly rolled her eyes.

"C, nobody makes me do anything I don't want to do. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now that's what I like to hear!"

God, she was so great. JC was falling in love with her husband and he couldn't even bring himself to resent her.

Wait... Falling in love?

Fuck.

#

 

JC kept his mind a careful blank by drinking more than he should on the flight.

When he got home and checked his messages, there were three from Joey, which he skipped without listening to, and one from his parents. They were excited. They just got a new dog, and when was JC going to come meet it?

Damn.

If he'd known, he would have booked a flight to his parents'. Of course, there was nothing keeping him from booking a flight up there right now. He could use the distraction. A puppy would mean house-breaking emergencies and his mother snapping hundreds of pictures and his dad reading all of the latest dog-training books because he took dog ownership as seriously as parenting.

But that would only be enough excitement to distract him. They'd raised three children, so they were pretty sharp-eyed and good at multitasking. They were totally capable of focusing on both JC and the dog, and they'd see that there was something wrong with him. They'd want to know what and why, and he hated lying to them. And beyond that? They could probably see straight through his lies.

That was too bad, because he could use their help right now. While there was nothing they could do about him lusting after a married man, JC always thought more clearly in their presence. They were deeply spiritual and eminently sensible--aside from a few little quirks--and it was easy for JC to emulate them when they were right there.

Actually, just thinking about them was helping him. He couldn't tell them about the situation he was in, but he knew exactly what they would say about trying to run away from his problems. Running away wasn't a responsible, adult decision. You were supposed to stay and walk a while with your problems. So you could know them and see them for what they really were. Well.

He'd screwed up on the staying part, but he could try the rest.

_Do, or do not. There is no try._

Great.

He was going to walk a while with his problems _and_ Joey's Yoda voice.

#

 

JC was busy.

He made appearances and worked with producers. He did his thing with the Backstreet Boys, rocked the vote, and entered into negotiations for his own label.

And, throughout it all, he'd catch himself humming Disney songs at odd moments and he'd ask himself: What would being in love with Joey actually change?

#

 

At a party, someone mentioned their dance instructor. He remembered Kelly's grin when she told him that he might like it.

He signed up for Salsa lessons the next day.

#

 

Justin called to tell him about a singer he'd heard at a local club. She had an incredible voice, and Justin thought her sound would work well with a song idea JC had told him about a couple weeks ago. Did JC want to meet up and catch her act with him sometime this week?

"And, dude, what the hell is up with you and Briahna? Joey put her on the phone the other day and all she could talk about was sewing mice and how you all painted your nails just like Cinderella."

Ha! He'd known no one could top singing-and-sewing mice!

"You're not getting all flamey again, are you?"

"No, J."

"'Cause after she told me that, I was thinking, they haven't identified the triggering incident for all of the wildfires yet and maybe it was our C just flaming away--"

The first two months of the three-man bus had taught JC the importance of not letting Justin know when he was amusing. It wasn't so necessary when Justin and Chris couldn't feed off of each other's energy to keep a joke going forever, but JC liked to keep all of his old skills honed.

"Save the comedy for Chris, J. Your tone still completely gives you away when you're trying to pull someone's leg."

"But it's funny! Joey laughed when I told it to him."

"Joey also laughs at 'Hot Dick in Cider' jokes."

"Oh, yeah. Guess he's not the best judge."

"So... what else did you guys talk about?"

JC didn't feel bad at all about pumping Justin for information.

#

 

In the Fabric District one day, a flash of yellow caught JC's eye. It was a bright, but nice, daffodil yellow--not something totally overpowering. It had a slight iridescent sheen, and he admired it for several minutes before he realized why it had drawn his attention.

It looked like Belle's gown.

He didn't know what he'd do with it, but he bought the entire bolt.

#

 

He met Tony for lunch at a Chinese restaurant. It had recently been remodeled and a long wall of fish tanks now separated the dining area from the entrance.

He could barely take his eyes off the fish.

"JC..."

He hadn't watched _The Little Mermaid_ with Briahna.

"JC..."

She'd obviously seen it already, but that didn't matter. He wanted to see it with her.

Fuck the last couple of weeks.

He wanted what he'd had since that chance meeting on his own personal Elvis day. He wanted to be a bigger part of Joey's life and to be a part of Joey's family. He missed Briahna and Kelly almost as much as he missed Joey--and what he missed about Joey wasn't the flirting and his innate sexiness, it was just _him_. All of him.

So, he knew the answer to his question. Falling in love with Joey hadn't changed anything. He could live without sex with Joey, but Joey was an absolute necessity. He'd find a way to make it work.

"JC! What is wrong with you, man?"

"Nothing."

Nothing at all.

"Then stop making eyes at the fish. I'm talking to you."

"Sorry. I... there's something I've got to do before I change my mind."

"Whatever, man."

JC pulled out his phone and stared at it for a moment. He'd had one brief email exchange with Joey since Orlando. What could he say if Joey was upset with him because of his silence?

Well... a text message could test the waters?

_Hey. Just realized. You still owe me a movie._

"You done?" Tony said.

"For now, yeah."

#

 

Each minute crawled by, and his phone remained silent.

That was okay. He had no idea what Joey's schedule was like these days. Silence wasn't necessarily Joey's answer. He was just busy.

By dinner time, he was maybe slightly worried. But, no, he knew Joey better than that. Joey didn't give people the silent treatment.

The message-alert tone woke him up--he'd tucked the phone under his pillow. He fumbled with the lamp and the phone, and read: _Yeah? you owe me a mermaid._

Fine then, Joey would have his mermaid even if JC had to make the sea-shell bra himself.

 _I'll take you to the aquarium,_ he sent.

_Its a date_

_When?_

Joey didn't answer.

He waited ten minutes before calling, but Joey didn't pick up. Why didn't Joey pick up?

Oh, wait... if he was on the East Coast, it was like what? Three? Four o'clock?

Joey would call later.

#

 

Joey didn't call in the morning.

JC left several messages for him, and then tried Kelly. There was no answer there, either, but he didn't leave a message. "Is your husband mad at me?" would have been disturbingly Jr. High-ish--and a seriously messed-up junior-high at that.

But this wasn't like Joey. Maybe something was wrong.

He called Lance.

Lance wasn't pleased with him.

"I told you not to upset my girl."

"I didn't--"

"She's feeling neglected."

"Do you think she'll forgive me?"

"I don't know. Six-year-olds are very fickle."

"Then I can win her back with something pink and sparkly--or, hey! I bought this yellow--"

"Your main concern should be that you can't buy me off with something pink and sparkly."

"Yeah, that's okay, I'll get gold and sparkly for you."

"Seriously, I'm her godfather and you know I have Italian connections."

JC laughed.

"You're a very scary man."

"I am, so don't fuck Joey over."

Shit.

How much did Lance know? Was there even anything to know? This could all be in JC's head, except... if this was nothing, Lance wouldn't need to threaten him.

"How--" No, that wasn't the right question. "Do you know where he is? Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's okay. Don't worry about it."

"You're not going to tell me where he is, are you?"

"Nope."

"Okay, well, ah... thanks."

"Any time, C."

If no one was going to tell him anything, he'd have to trust that Joey would call. And he needed something to do while he waited.

He went down to the basement where he had a haphazard little sewing room next to his studio. He pet his sewing machine. It was big and fancy and Swedish, and had all these little buttons and lights, so he was rather fond of it, though it was clear to everyone that he didn't really know what he was doing with it. Hand-stitching was easier.

He looked at the yellow Belle fabric. He was tempted to make Lance a shirt out of it, but it wasn't blingy enough to be what Lance deserved.

The fabric was stretchy. He could make a T-shirt out of it. He could make a princess shirt for Bri.

He turned up the volume of his phone, then set it aside, and puttered around with his scissors and fabric. The sizing of girls' clothing was a mystery, but the best thing about buying by the bolt was that he had plenty of room for mistakes.

Tyler stopped by at one point to give him a sandwich. He looked at the mess and scratched his head, and told JC that yellow was not his color.

JC tried calling Joey again. He tried Kelly, too, and even considered calling Steve, but he wasn't that desperate. He kept working.

He finished his second attempt--the first had failed rather quickly--and held it at arm's length while picturing Briahna. Hmm, well...

"You're skinny, C, but that is never going to fit you."

Joey!

JC took a deep, calming breath and turned around.

Ah, Joey was beautiful and there was no way an unforgiving man could smile like that. And he was here. Had he come here just for him?

"Joey," he said, stepping forward.

"I can't decide," Joey said, "if your timing is inspired or if it totally sucks."

"But you're here, so... it's all good?"

"I don't know."

Oh.

It wasn't the answer he'd wanted, but JC could do this. He wasn't going to screw this up again.

"Is there anything I can do to help you figure it out?"

"I was going to come here today, and beat some sense into you, and tell you that you'd run away for long enough."

"You _were_ going to?"

Joey nodded.

"And then I get your message and realized that you were done with hiding--you are done, right?"

"I am." JC stepped closer to him.

"So, that only leaves the beating part."

"Could we maybe skip that part?"

"That depends."

Joey scratched his head and shifted back and forth.

"Here's the thing, C. A man can only do the ten-year plan so many times in his life. And we're running out of Princesses, and I really don't want to have to wait until 2009."

"2009?"

"That's when the next official Princess debuts."

Now that was interesting. Why would Joey know...

"Joey?"

"Yeah?"

"For a man who's fundamentally opposed to the Princesses, you know an awful lot about them."

"Are you kidding? I love the Princesses."

"Then why--"

Joey grabbed his shoulders and yanked him forward.

"Sorry, C, but I'm on a deadline here."

Joey kissed him.

And, oh, yeah. JC did know this taste. And these lips... Joey must have kissed him that night in Orlando. How could JC have forgotten this?

God, Joey's mouth... and his tongue...

When he could, he said, "Joey--"

"Shh. No talking." Joey pressed a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth. "Deadline."

Joey kissed him again, and JC decided that he could totally live in the present moment.

When Joey pulled away, JC clung to him.

"There's no deadline," JC said. "I'm not going to turn into a pumpkin at midnight."

"Yeah, but I've got a thing in Beverly Hills, gotta be there by seven."

"That's not much time..."

JC licked Joey's neck. Wow. How many times had he wanted to do that?

Too many.

And now he could do it again. So he did, and then scraped his teeth along the tendon for good measure.

"C..."

"You like that?"

Joey shook his head.

"I've got that thing, and you've got homework."

"'Homework'? I know how to kiss."

Joey pulled away from him.

"I know you do, but I want you to call Kelly while I go be famous."

Kelly...

Damn. One kiss and JC totally lost sight of the bigger picture. He was pathetic.

"Hey, don't look like that," Joey said. "I want you to call Kelly, 'cause see, she thinks you left us because you had to help a friend, and I think you left us because you freaked out."

Oh...

"So you're going call her and admit that you freaked out, so I can win my bet."

"You bet on me?"

"Would I do that?"

"Yes!"

"Yeah, I would." Joey kissed him again, quickly.

"Now call Kelly and listen to her, C."

"Is she going to--"

"She helped me with the Princess Plan, and I want you to hear it from her."

"The 'Princess Plan'?"

"Okay, she didn't actually help me come up with the plan. That was all mine. But she went along with it and didn't complain that I was making her sound like a crazy conspiracy theorist with deep-seated Disney issues."

Oh, there was definitely one crazy conspirator right here.

"And she did that because she cares about you, C. You might not know that, but she really does. Sure, she thought I should just ask you like straight out, but I told her about how you were feeling all lost and that thing you said about your love being worthless and how I should do something because you should never feel worthless."

Had JC really said that?

He didn't remember saying that, but just thinking now about the end of everything with Jive... yeah. He had felt like that, so maybe he did say it.

Huh.

He'd been so distracted by the ridiculousness of the whole Princess thing and all those signals he'd been getting from Joey, signals he'd thought he was imagining because of an overactive sex-drive--he'd so have to make Joey pay for that--that he hadn't noticed when he'd stopped feeling that way.

"And she's the one who told me that it was time to stop pretending that I haven't been attracted to you for years and years because I'd never fooled her anyhow and if I didn't believe her, I could ask Lance because I never fooled him either."

Oh, Jesus. Lance. Like Joey could have ever fooled Lance. It was a miracle enough that Joey had managed to fool JC for so long--and it was time to start making Joey pay for that as well.

"But you have to hear it from her, so you know--"

"Joey!"

"--that I'm not playing around on her, and I'm not--"

"You used the Disney Princesses to--"

"--toying with you."

"--lure me into a threesome with your wife?"

"You make it sound dirty."

"That depends on your intentions."

"I--"

JC pressed a finger to Joey's lips to stop him.

"You don't have to tell me. You wouldn't have involved Briahna if this was just some experimental fling."

Joey grabbed JC's hand and kissed it, then folded JC's fingers into a fist like he was holding on to the memory of the kiss.

"I love you, C, but you're making me late 'cause I need you to promise to call her before I go. Please? She's the most amazing woman, you could come to love her, couldn't you? You already love B."

JC already loved all of them. But he could wait to tell Joey that. Kelly was obviously the one he should talk to first. She was the sensible one who would work with him to figure out how they could all live "happily ever after" just like Disney Princesses. Joey would have to settle for being the pretty, warm-hearted and cuddly one.

He grabbed the back of Joey's neck and pulled him down for a good, hard kiss.

"Yes, you crazy bastard, I promise. I'll call Kelly. Now, you go and be famous for me, okay?"


End file.
